Category Archives: Speaker Night

Our most recent generation of cosmology experiments, such as the Planck satellite and observations of distant supernovae, has reduced all of cosmology to the very precise measurement of eight parameters. This relatively simple model seems complete with no hints of additional elements required to explain the entire evolution of the universe from the big bang to some far distant future. These recent results include such things as the precise measurement of the contributors to the overall mass–energy density of the universe. We know with great precision the amount of dark energy, dark matter, neutrinos, baryons, etc., in the universe today. What we do not know is exactly what most of these things really are.

Observational astronomers use telescopes that look at the furthest distances in the Universe to look back in time and trace the growth of structure in the cosmos. Recent multi-wavelength measurements have helped us to constrain the components that make up the Universe and how those components evolve. We now know that most of the Universe is made up of dark matter and dark energy, but the nature of these components remains largely unknown. In this talk I will give an overview of the techniques used to map the universe on the largest scales, which have enabled us to measure dark energy and dark matter.

Dr. John Moores of York University will give a talk titled “Solar System Exploration – An Update”.

John is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering at York University and a Participating Scientist on the Curiosity Rover. He trained on MER in 2004 and contributed to the 2005 Huygens Mission to Titan and the 2008 Phoenix Mission to the Martian Arctic: Here is more information about John.

Over the last few years, rovers, orbiters and flyby missions have improved our understanding of our own solar system. At Mars, Curiosity and Maven have revolutionized our understanding of present and ancient Mars. Further out, Dawn has given us our first view of the hydrated asteroid Ceres. Meanwhile, Juno has shown us the surprising shape of the Jovian poles. And, of course, New Horizons at Pluto has uncovered the Solar System’s heart.

In the coming years, the tradition at Mars will be carried on by the Trace Gas Orbiter and Insight missions. Europa Clipper will take a closer look at Jupiter’s most enigmatic moon. Our first mission to the Jovian Trojans (Lucy) and to an iron asteroid (Psyche) will take place. New Horizons will arrive at the most distant object in the solar system ever visited. Throughout, we are gaining an underlying understanding of how planets work, setting us up to make discoveries in planetary systems around distant stars throughout our galaxy..

The meeting will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The University of Toronto,Mississauga Campus, in lecture hall SE2072in the William Davis Building. The meeting is open to the public and is free.

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of the Davis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator,follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the main floor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

Post meeting plans: we usually continue the discussion post-meeting at a local bar – please join us!

The combined power of infrared observatories both in space and from the ground has allowed us to observe extraordinarily distant galaxies. Some of the most distant are observed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was merely 2% of its current age. Dr. Muzzin will talk about what what observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope have shown us about these exotic young galaxies. He will also introduce the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s $9 billion dollar IR-optimized successor to Hubble. Now is an exciting time, as JWST is preparing for launch in Oct 2018. The primary mission of this extremely powerful telescope is to show us the first stars forming in the first galaxies. He will present what we think those very young galaxies might look like.

Adam Muzzin is an assistant professor at York University in Toronto. His research focuses on galaxy formation and evolution, particularly the high-redshift universe. Most of his work is on how distant galaxies form and evolve, and how that evolution is related to their larger scale environment. Due to the redshifting of light, studies of distant galaxies almost always involve infrared observations.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The University of Toronto,Mississauga Campus, in lecture hall SE2072in the William Davis Building. The meeting is open to the public and is free.

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of the Davis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator,follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the main floor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

Post meeting plans: we usually continue the discussion post-meeting at a local bar – please join us!

Observational astronomers use telescopes that look at the furthest distances in the Universe to look back in time and trace the growth of structure in the cosmos. Recent multi-wavelength measurements have helped us to constrain the components that make up the Universe and how those components evolve.

We now know that most of the Universe is made up of dark matter and dark energy, but the nature of these components remains largely unknown. In this talk I will give an overview of the techniques used to map the universe on the largest scales, which have enabled us to measure dark energy and dark matter.

Dr. Laura Parker is an associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at McMaster University. Her research group is interested in questions related to galaxy evolution and observational cosmology. In particular her group is trying to understand the connection between observed galaxy properties and the properties of the environments in which we find them, including the relationship between galaxies and their host dark matter halos.

Dr. Parker completed her PhD in Physics at the University of Waterloo in 2005 and was then a postdoctoral fellow at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Munich before returning to Canada in 2007 to join the faculty at McMaster.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The University of Toronto,Mississauga Campus, in lecture hall SE2072in the William Davis Building. The meeting is open to the public and is free.

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of theDavis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator,follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the mainfloor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

Post meeting plans: we usually continue the discussion post-meeting at a local bar – please join us!

Dr. Tanya Harrison is a “Professional Martian” and the Director of Research for the NewSpace Initiative at Arizona State University. She has worked on multiple NASA Mars missions in science and operations, and specializes in the geology of the Red Planet. Tanya holds a Ph.D. in Geology with a Specialization in Planetary Science and Exploration.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The University of Toronto,Mississauga Campus, in lecture hall SE2074 in the William Davis Building. The meeting is open to the public and is free.

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of theDavis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator,follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the mainfloor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

*** Due to construction we will meet in room SE2074 (just down the hall) ***
Randy Attwood is the Executive Director of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC). He has been fascinated with astronomy and space exploration since the days of the Apollo missions.

Randy’s talk will focus on the missions of the two Voyager spacecraft that were launched in 1977 – 40 years ago this year. Over a period of 12 years, they explored the four outer planets – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The discoveries changed our understanding of our solar system.

This talk will look at the mission and the discoveries as well as some of the challenges Voyager engineers faced in taking late 1960’s spacecraft technology – which lasted only a couple years in space – and extended the lifetime to the required 12 years to complete the mission – and beyond. Now the two spacecraft are leaving the solar system and providing information on the heliopause – the boundary between our solar system and interstellar space.

*** Due to construction we will meet in room SE2072 (just down the hall) ***Catherine Woodford,
University of Toronto

Get an up-close and personal take on the Gravitational Waves discovery that has changed science for the better. Considered the most influential discovery of the century, gravitational wave GW150914 broke records in physics, astronomy, and interferometry – with still more to come. We will talk about what went into the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) that discovered GW150914 from theoretical, engineering, and computer simulation viewpoints, and discuss the outlooks on the future of gravitational wave astronomy.

Catherine Woodford is a 2nd year PhD candidate in the Physics Department at the University of Toronto and works at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA). Her research falls into two streams: binary black hole simulations and exoplanet simulations. She is a a member of the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) collaboration and the Centre for Planetary Sciences (CPS), as well as a planetarium operator for the Dunlap Institute and outreach fanatic. When she’s not thinking or looking at the sky and what lies beyond, she’s volunteering with the Rotary Club of Toronto, cycling, running, and snowboarding.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The University of Toronto,Mississauga Campus, in lecture hall SE2072in the William Davis Building. The meeting is open to the public and is free.

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of theDavis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator,follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the mainfloor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

Post meeting plans: we usually continue the discussion post-meeting at a local bar – please join us!

*** Due to construction we will meet in room SE2074 (just down the hall) ***Prof. Michael De Robertis,
York University

“Is there life elsewhere” is one of the key questions that Astronomers face today. Join us as Prof. Michael De Robertis presents the latest scientific findings and techniques.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The University of Toronto,Mississauga Campus, in lecture hall SE2074in the William Davis Building. The meeting is open to the public and is free.

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of theDavis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator,follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the mainfloor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

Post meeting plans: we usually continue the discussion post-meeting at a local bar – please join us!

*** Due to construction we will meet in room SE2074 (just down the hall) ***

Prof. Paul Delaney, York University

Thousands of exoplanets and exoplanetary candidates have been detected suggesting that exoplanets are very common. In 2016 it was discovered that the very closest star to our own Sun, Proxima Centauri b, harbours a planet.

This presentation will summarize the state of exoplanetary research and look at the likelihood of exploring the Proxima Centauri star system in the relatively near future.

The meeting will be held from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. at The University of Toronto,Mississauga Campus, in lecture hall SE2074in the William Davis Building. The meeting is open to the public and is free.

Enter off of Mississauga Road. Park in lot 4 or the parkade, across from the fitness centre south of theDavis Building. Enter through the Fitness centre, walk up the stairs until you reach the main corridor then turn right. (If you need an elevator,follow the corridor to the right of the stairs, then go up to the mainfloor.) Look for the Mississauga Centre sign in front of the lecture room.

Post meeting plans: we usually continue the discussion post-meeting at a local bar – please join us!